Revision Strategies

-Overview of strategy

-English example

-Your own examples

Week 1

Pneumonics & The Arch

1. MNEMONICS

A system such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations which assists in remembering something. A mnemonic is designed to aid the memory. A mnemonic is a tool to help remember facts or a large amount of information. It can be a song, rhyme, acronym, image, or a phrase to help remember a list of facts in a certain order.

How are mnemonics used?

Mnemonics involve attaching words/phrases to individual letters of an original word.

Two uses of mnemonics

1. Create a sentence:2 .Replace components with

more memorable, appealing

ones.

Never Eat Shreaded Wheat

Never Ever Support Wigan

Ner Ever Support Wigan

Make it specific to what you like

Nike Versace Adidas Armani Pandora Prada Dior Chanel

The 8 word classes – English Language & Literature

Neymar Vardy Alonso Aguero Pele Pique Drogba Charrager

Mnemonics in the Curriculum

MAD-PC

Approaching a source based question – History

Consider an image

to accompany your

pnemonic.

Mnemonics for you!

The following website helps you generate pneumonics that are easier to remember

than the original boring stuff!

http://spacefem.com/mnemonics/

Over to you…

Think of some key ideas you need to remember across

your different subjects. Create a pneumonic that is easier to remember. Share

them with others if you’d like!

2. THE ARCH

The ’Arch’ can be used to remember anything that follows a process/ journey

in a specific order. It involves ’hanging’ pieces of information from it to aid

students in visualising a specific process.

In the Curriculum

GCSE English Literature – Juliet’s emotions/personality throughout the play

Strong minded (telling The

Nurse/Lady C she won’t marry)

Passionate (kissing Romeo)

Sensible (initially doesn’t think it’s a good idea to

marry Romeo)

Impulsive (agrees to marry him)

Angry (when she hears Romeo has

killed Tybalt)

Defensive (when the Nurse talks badly of

Romeo)

Disobedient (refusing to marry Paris)

Scared/paranoid (when she is about to

‘fake’ kill herslf)

Determined (to be

with Romeo and kills herself for that to be

the case)

Not only does this aid the memory of

individual concepts and their order, it also

requires you to summarise ideas into 10

steps before they ‘hang’ them off the arch.

This in itself is revision.

Deceiving (lies to her family about

agreeing to marry Paris)

You can simplify your arch even further

(pick out a key word to summarise each

component) – this could be what you jot

down in your exam to trigger your memory!

In the Curriculum

Potential arch uses:

• How does Eric change throughout the play (An Inspector Calls)? (English Literature)

• 10 key steps to solving an equation (Maths)

• Ten steps to World War 2 (History)

• Photoshop techniques & checklist (Photography)

• The Digestive System (Science)

Over to you…

Think of some key ‘journeys’ or ‘processes’ you need to remember

across your different subjects. Summarise these into 10 statements (it

can be 5, or 8 if you’d like)and visualise them onto your arch. Simplify them to

take into your exam.

Week 2

Body Pegs & ‘The Room

3. BODY PEGS

Human Body Peg SystemThe human body peg system uses parts of the body as pegs;

the pegs never change. To use this system, memorize the

body parts in order before attaching the mental pictures. In

your mind, hang on your forehead the first picture of the item

you want to remember. Continue hanging mental pictures

on the pegs. After you attach the pictures, practice naming

each item in order.

3. BODY PEGS

Step 1. Choose 10- (you can do less or more depending on how good your memory is) body parts that you can remember in order. If you want to put something rude in there – feel free – it will be easier for you to remember! 1. Forehead2. Eyes3. Nose4. Ears5. Mouth6. Chest7. Arm8. Stomach9. Leg10. Foot

3. BODY PEGS

Step 2. Consider various things you need to remember for your subjects. E.g. Mr Birling quotes for An Inspector Calls.

1. Forehead – ‘heavy looking’

2. Eyes- ‘hard headed business man’

3. Nose – ‘Germans don’t want war’

4. Ears – ‘Giving us the port, Edna?’

5. Mouth- ‘ man has to mind his own business and look after himself’

6. Chest – ‘a knighthood of course’

7. Arm- ‘I’d give thousands’ 8. Stomach ‘wretched girl’s suicide’

9. Leg- ‘‘there’ll be a public scandal’

10. Foot- ‘the famous younger generation who know it all’

Body Part Quote Image

1. Forehead ‘heavy looking’ A fat man

2. Eyes ‘hard headed business man’ Briefcase

3. Nose ‘Germans don’t want war’ Hitler

4. Ears ‘Giving us the port, Edna?’ Port

5. Mouth ‘man has to mind his own business and look after himself’ MeMeMe

6. Chest ‘a knighthood of course’ Knight

7. Arm ‘I’d give thousands’ Money

8. Stomach ‘wretched girl’s suicide’ Bleech

9. Leg ‘there’ll be a public scandal’ Scandal magazine

10. Foot ‘the famous younger generation who know it all’ Baby

You end up with something like this…

You need to consider what works for you:

• 10 body parts you can reel off in order

• Images that come to mind quickly

• Something that’s going to trigger your

memory

Again, the process of

selecting quotes and

images is revision in itself.

Over to you…

1. Decide on your chosen body parts (usually easier to remember from head

to toe.2. Select your chosen items you need to

remember (pieces of info/ quotes etc.)3. Decide on images to match to your

body parts4. Draw them out on a stick man/ body

outline to embed

4. THE ROOM/ HOUSE

Just like with ‘Body Pegs’ – this requires you to know a room in your house off by heart, or a ‘journey in your house’ (e.g. the front door to your bedroom).

Once you’ve decided and memorised these (which should be easy) you need to associate words or images with each of these things which will trigger your memory when you imagine your house.

4. THE ROOM/ HOUSE

Step 1. Choose 10 items in your chosen room that are ALWAYS there. E.g. (bathroom)

1. Light switch

2. Mirror

3. Toilet seat

4. Flusher

5. Toilet roll holder

6. Tap

7. Soap

8. Plug hole

9. Towel

10. Door handle

4. Into the Curriculum…

Mr Birling quotes – English Literature

Step 1. Choose 10 items in your chosen room that are ALWAYS there. E.g. (bathroom)1. Light switch– ‘heavy looking’2. Window- ‘hard headed business man’3. Toilet seat – ‘Germans don’t want war’4. Flusher– ‘Giving us the port, Edna?’5. Toilet roll holder - ‘ man has to mind his

own business and look after himself’6. Tap– ‘a knighthood of course’7. Soap - ‘I’d give thousands’ 8. Plughole- ‘wretched girl’s suicide’9. Towel- ‘‘there’ll be a public scandal’10. Door handle- ‘the famous younger

generation who know it all’

Body Part Quote Image

1. Light

switch

‘heavy looking’ A fat man

2. Mirror ‘hard headed business man’ Briefcase

3. Toilet seat ‘Germans don’t want war’ Hitler

4. Flusher ‘Giving us the port, Edna?’ Port

5. Toilet roll

holder

‘man has to mind his own business and look after himself’ MeMeMe

6. Tap ‘a knighthood of course’ Knight

7. Soap ‘I’d give thousands’ Money

8. Plug hole ‘wretched girl’s suicide’ Bleech

9. Towel ‘there’ll be a public scandal’ Scandal magazine

10. Door

handle

‘the famous younger generation who know it all’ Baby

4. THE ROOM/ HOUSE

Equally – plot the points on a journey around your house. 1. Door step 2. Front door 3. Shoe rack4. Coat holder5. Stairs6. Landing7. Rug8. Bedroom door 9. Bed10. TV

Remember this has to be

specific to you.

Over to you…

1. Decide on your chosen room or journey through your house and break

it into 10 points.2. Select your chosen items you need to

remember (pieces of info/ quotes etc.)3. Decide on images to match to your 10

house items4. Draw them out on a blank ‘room’ or

print one off to help you.

Week 3

Numbers & Mindmaps

5. NUMBERS

Number lines work by creating an image that

consistently matches to the numbers 1-10 in your

head. This can then be applied to multiple things

that you need to remember for your different

subject areas.

5. NUMBER LINES - Example

1 2 3 4My number line:

1 will always be a stick man

2 will always be a swan

3 will always be an upside down heart

4 will always be a boat

And so on….

Just like with the other strategies, you are required to break

your chosen revision topic down into 10 sections which can link

to your numbers. This is revision in itself!

Number Lines – Into the Curriculum

The plot of An Inspector Calls

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10AIC –dining room

Mr Birling andGerald Croft talk business

Inspector arrives

Mr Birling forced to accept his part in Eva’s death

Shelia’s

turn

Gerald’s

secret

affair is

exposed

Mrs Birling’s lack of charitable spirit

Eric is found out

Responsi

- bilityThe

phone

rings

again!

The stick man is sat in the middle of the dining table

Mr B and Gerald are sat on a swan discussing the war

Insepctorarriveswearing a heart jumper

Mr B is sat crying sailing into the distance

Over to you…

1. Decide on your 10 key images that link to the numbers 1-10. Draw them out if it

helps. 2. Select your chosen items you need to

remember (pieces of info/ quotes etc.)3. Make the things you need to

remember link to your 10 images. The funnier/weirder the better!

6. MINDMAPS

Mindmaps are arguably the most commonly used

form of revision. But they can be utilised in many

more ways than you may think.

Interesting fact…

A recent study found that

medical students who adopted

mind mapping experienced a

10% increase in their long term

memory of factual information.

Why use mind maps?

Reduces notes & boosts memory

More creative

Human tendency is to scan a page in a non linear manner

Reading from left to right can be tiring, boring and can cause us to

lose concentration

Mind maps allow us to capture and connect a lot of information

Encourages us to focus on the ideas and facts that really matter

Encourage us to use the analytical left brain by searching for key

words & ideas

Create a central idea

• Put this in the centre

of the page

• Include an image – it

helps trigger memory

• Taking time to

personalise it will

strengthen

associations

Add and connect branches

• The main branches that stem from

the main idea are the key themes

• ‘2nd or 3rd level branches’ or

‘subtopics’ can be added from these

• Connect the ideas that relate – the

brain will remember them better this

way

• Use class notes / text books to help

structure this

• Remember - more branches can

always be added

Add keywords

• Include a key idea for each

branch

• Try and keep this idea to

one word – this will be easier

to remember and will spark

more associations

• Now populate ‘sub-level

branches’ with further key

words / phrases

• This will allow you to ‘chunk’

information and recall it

easier in the exam

Colour code

• This encourages whole

brain thinking

• Linking the visual with the

logical helps to create

mental shortcuts

• It allows us to categorise

information

• It also makes it more fun

and appealing to create

and study

Add images

• Images can often convey

more than a word,

sentence or an essay

• They are processed

instantly and are easier to

recall than text

• This is a skill we learn as

children before we have

mastered language

FACT – we revise better from things that look good, or that we’ve

created ourselves!

Free software…https://www.goconqr.com/en/mind-maps/

THIS IS REALLY

GOOD!